This situation, where many who were once faithful to a single local church now find themselves with a divided church loyalty, troubles me greatly. All Christians should be deeply committed to attending a local church.
Handel’s Messiah, now as much a part of Christmas as mince pies and mistletoe, is one of the world’s greatest expressions of the Christian faith in music.
In the Christian faith we focus on the awesome truth that in the crucifixion of Jesus, God himself was purchasing our forgiveness. That is the greatest gift we could ever have and we must always be grateful for that.
Given our limited data, the safest answer to most questions to do with Heaven is simply "we don’t know". Nevertheless, some things can be said and let me suggest five certainties that I find in the Bible that are helpful.
We could certainly benefit from having men and women like Chesterton today, who can defend the Christian faith with courage, creativity and charm.
Francis challenged the Church and Christians of his time, and he continues to do so today.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon was widely sneered at as being vulgar, theatrical and undignified, yet he drew and held his hearers, moving them through both laughter and tears to transformed lives.
When war did break out, Bonhoeffer found himself drawn into the circle of those patriotic Germans who sought to overthrow Hitler. In order to again escape conscription, he joined the German military intelligence agency, a body that included many who were opposed to Hitler.
As with the boy with the five barley loaves and two small fish in John’s account of the feeding of the five thousand, God delights in making much out of little. God achieved much through Harriet Beecher Stowe. He can use us too.
The faithful and fruitful life of Elisabeth Elliot sets a challenging example of discipleship to us today. She deserves to be remembered.
